Typically, 40% of people will abandon a site that takes more than two seconds to load, according to Neil Patel. As such, it makes sense why web application owners are always looking to improve the effectiveness of their sites. While all other things about your site might be running smoothly, having a server and database that is approaching full capacity should raise some red flags.
If left unattended, these issues will easily lead to inconveniences as the users of your site will have to wait too long for their queries to be responded to. While upgrading your database is a sure way to remedy the situation, doing it right is key to ensure that such problems do not become recurring in the future.
Here are some insights on approaching the database scalability idea the best way:
Have Your Monitoring Requirements in Mind
In the modern day business world, database activity monitoring tools are a necessity. They provide insights into issues such as server license optimization, server consolidation, and performance optimization. They will also provide data to tell whether any new upgrades to your database were effective enough as well as in identifying threats to performance.
Sadly, some solutions come with restriction in the line of the number of servers they can serve, and compatibility with your infrastructure. When upscaling your database infrastructure, therefore, search for monitoring solutions that will fit right into your future company development goals. This will ensure you will not have to revisit this issue once you increase the demand for your database in the future.
Commit To Capacity Planning
Every business person expects their business to grow, but not all anticipate this growth through enough preparation. When expanding your database’s capacity, it is essential to plan for both the current and the future need of your business. This will greatly depend on where you see your business in the near future.
You should look at all aspect ranging from storage to performance and capability. At least, your plans should last for more than half the period that the business has been functioning.
Plan for Security
When upgrading their databases, most businesses tend to approach security as an add-on instead of an integral part of the upgrade. This might easily make them lose the bigger picture. Aspects like access control, certification and encryption should all be catered to at the beginning of the upgrades.
Since the security tools that you are using at the moment might not manage to withstand the pressure of the increased capacity, upgrading them should also be a necessity. Additionally, you should sit down with your security team to identify how to protect the security of your business now that you will have widened the attack landscape by cybercriminals. It might also help to pay for penetration testing in the quest to ensure the effectiveness of the new security solutions and upgrades.
Incorporate a Load Balancer into Your Plans
Diversifying your database resources will only take you so far in case you fail to use a load balancer. The chances are that the database workload will typically take longer than usual to load since the load might cause stress on one of the resources such as a single server.
A load balancer ensures that no single database resource is exposed to excessive stress, and the stress is balanced among all resources. This will especially be effective in the peak season when traffic is high, and the demand for your database resources is increased. In case one of these resources also experiences some downtime, your load balancer will automatically balance out the workload to the remaining resources as you repair the faulty one.
Conclusion
Growth is an opportunity for more business, and it pays to be ready for it. When scaling your database, you should always look at all aspects of the upgrade to ensure that you do not forget the necessities. Consider the tips above to improve the flexibility of using your database.
